I can't say I like twitter, but I definitely think it'd be a cool thing to have the ability to do on here. The facebook app is, I think, how I found out about this site--way back when I had a facebook. (My not having a fbook and my posting on RA discussions does have a direct correlation, ...and it is a matter of causality)

The big thing with the kids around me seems to be tumblr, maybe something relevant to that might not hurt either, but I'm not still not sure how that'd work out.

Personally, I just don't want this thing to turn into "The Running Network" movie.

Gotta disagree. I can't speak for most Twitter users but I think that the rebels in Iran, Libya and Egypt would take issue with that. Twitter was a big part of toppling the Mubarak regime (they used it to organize demonstrations) and even today it is targeted by totalitarian governments because of its ability to disseminate information almost in real-time.

I spend a bit of time on Twitter. Most of what I see is much like what I posted. When massive geopolitical events occur, word tries to flow out any any medium it can find, but that a tool can be used for important events does not intrinsically make the tool or its most usual use important.

It seemed to me that the tone of your post was that "all Twitter is frivolous".

And you're mostly right, 99% of Twitter is fluff. But, knowing who/what to follow is the key. If you know who/what to follow, it's an extremely valuable tool for keeping up with world events and breaking news. And what @danerunsalot weighs today

"Able to function despite imminent catastrophe"

"To obtain the air that angels breathe you must come to Tahoe"--Mark Twain

"The most common question from potential entrants is 'I do not know if I can do this' to which I usually answer, 'that's the whole point'.--Paul Charteris, Tarawera Ultramarathon RD.

Gotta disagree. I can't speak for most Twitter users but I think that the rebels in Iran, Libya and Egypt would take issue with that. Twitter was a big part of toppling the Mubarak regime (they used it to organize demonstrations) and even today it is targeted by totalitarian governments because of its ability to disseminate information almost in real-time.

Twitter was ridiculed when it first started up for exactly the reasons that you cited, frivolity, but subsequent events have shown how important it is. The US even urged Twitter to cancel a scheduled maintenance outage during a critical time so that Iranian rebels could continue to use it.

I thought my 21:53 post illustrated the dichotomy between frivolous and important Twitter pretty well.

And, as I previously wrote, it's a great way of disseminating time-critical information.

In the Iranian case, meanwhile, the people tweeting about the demonstrations were almost all in the West. “It is time to get Twitter’s role in the events in Iran right,” Golnaz Esfandiari wrote, this past summer, in Foreign Policy. “Simply put: There was no Twitter Revolution inside Iran.”

In the Iranian case, meanwhile, the people tweeting about the demonstrations were almost all in the West. “It is time to get Twitter’s role in the events in Iran right,” Golnaz Esfandiari wrote, this past summer, in Foreign Policy. “Simply put: There was no Twitter Revolution inside Iran.”

What really gets students moving is the old-fashioned method of professors and grounds crews taking charge and getting people into basements.

At one of my son's recent baseball games, the weather was not looking good. For 20 minutes, people chatted about the bits of information they got from various sources on their phones/ipads/etc. It wasn't until the ball field's lightning/tornado alert siren sounded and the officials told people to go home that people actually started heading for their cars.

When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done?